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Cannellini Bean and Red Cabbage Stew

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A simple, budget recipe, bursting with colour, and oil-free, this stew is bound to please. Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 leek, sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced
250g red cabbage, finely shredded
2 cans tomatoes (400g each)
1 l vegetable stock
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp hot paprika
200g cooked cannellini beans
To garnish, soured tofu

Directions
1. Sweat the leek, garlic, carrots, and celery in a large stock pot over the lowest heat possible for 10 minutes. If they start to stick, add a splash of water.
2. Add the red cabbage, tomatoes, vegetable stock, lemon juice (which serves the function of preventing the cabbage from losing its colour) and paprikas to the pot. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, until the carrots are fork tender.
3. Add the beans, and warm through.
4. Serve garnished with some soured tofu, if desired.

Fennel and Mushroom Penne in a Lemon and Garlic Sauce

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Delicately fragrant, vivid, and lively, this comforting gluten-free dish is full of nutrients. Eat your fill!

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 leek, finely chopped
250g mushrooms, sliced
1 fennel bulb, quartered and finely sliced
150g tenderstem broccoli (substitute with broccoli florets if tenderstem is hard to find)
5 sage leaves, finely minced
Small bunch each basil and parsley, minced
200g brown rice pasta
2 large handfuls baby spinach

For the sauce

50g white beans of choice
150g silken tofu, drained
Zest 1 lemon
Juice 1/2 lemon
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 cup unsweetened, unflavoured all-plant milk of choice (soy milk used here)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions
1. Steam the fennel and broccoli until just tender (about 5 minutes).
2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions, drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid, and rinse to remove the excess starch.
3. Sauté the leeks and mushrooms over a medium heat in a non-stick pan until softened (about 5 minutes). Add the sage.
4. Blend all the sauce ingredients. Taste and adjust seasonings if desired.
5. Add the sauce to the leeks and mushrooms vegetables, thinning out to desired consistency with a little of the reserved cooking water. Toss in the pasta, fennel, and broccoli to warm through.
6. Serve the pasta on a bed of spinach, garnished with a little extra lemon zest, more black pepper, and the minced basil and parsley.

Jewelled Greens and Beans Salad

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A simple, filling, and nutritious salad that’s full of flavour and texture. This would work well with miso-ginger salad dressing or even balsamic vinaigrette.

Ingredients (per serving)

1 cup baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup cooked rice
1/2 cup beans of choice
1 cup steamed broccoli
1 carrot, peeled and cut into strips with the peeler
2 tbsp pomegranate seeds

Directions

Use the spinach as a base, top with the rest of the ingredients, and enjoy.

Oat and Bean Burgers

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Once you have a good vegetable burger recipe, you can adjust the flavour profile to your taste. Try changing the herbs and spices in this recipe to create your own flavours: add basil, oregano, sundried tomatoes and even chopped mushrooms for an Italian burger; choose garam masala and curry powder; you can even try fajita spices and serve with salsa. Have fun, experiment, and play around with flavours on top of the base recipe to make this your own. This recipe makes 8 patties.

Ingredients

Base Ingredients
2 x 400g (gross weight) cans cooked beans (I used one can of kidney and one can of cannellini)
1 red onion, quartered
1 red pepper, deseeded and quartered
1 cup oats

Flavourings
1 tbsp suitable-for-vegans Dijon mustard
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp soy sauce
pinch chilli flakes
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 200C, and line a baking tray with parchment or a silicone sheet. Pulse the beans, onions, and red pepper in a food processor until fine and combined. If you don’t have a food processor, finely dice the onions and pepper, and mash the beans. Combine.
2. Add the oats, and pulse to combine further (or mix by hand). Transfer to a large bowl.
3. Add the flavourings suggested above, or experiment and create your own. Try to have about 2-4 tbsp wet ingredients among the flavourings so that the burgers are not dry.
4. Combine all ingredients well, preferably using your hands. Squeeze a handful of the ingredients together: they should hold without crumbling. If your hand is very, very sticky, add some more oats; if the mixture feels too dry, add a little suitable-for-vegans ketchup, mustard, or tomato purée.
5. Shape the mixture into 8 patties, flatten out, and place on the baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes, flip, and bake 10 minutes more. Serve in a suitable-for-vegans bun with preferred salad vegetables and sauce of your choice (I have used creamy potato dressing on mine).

Baked Beans in a Flash

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Oil-free, ready in just over 10 minutes, and suitable for novice cooks, these baked beans are perfect for breakfast or lunch.

Ingredients

1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
300g passata
1 x 400g can white beans (e.g. cannellini or haricot)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp maple syrup
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika

Directions

1. Heat a small saucepan over a medium low heat. Add the onion and sauté until just starting to caramelise (about 3-5 minutes). Add the garlic and a splash (about 1tbsp) water and cook for another 30 seconds.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pan. Bring to a simmer and allow the sauce to reduce slightly, about 5 minutes. Taste, adjust seasoning if necessary, and serve.

Cannellini Bean Sea Cakes with Parsley Sauce

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Cannellini beans are so extremely versatile. They blend down to make sauces and dips; they make great binders in burgers; they taste good sprinkled over salads or cooked in a sauce. But they’re particularly good made into sea cakes, mixed with onion and sea vegetables, coated in breadcrumbs, and baked in the oven for a filling and healthy main dish. Makes 4 cakes.

Ingredients

For the sea cakes

2 cups cooked cannellini beans (another white bean will do)
1 tsp seaweed powder or flakes; I prefer kombu
1/2 onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 1/4 cup water
75g wholegrain breadcrumbs

For the parsley sauce

Ingredients
2 cups unsweetened soya (or other plant) milk
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp onion granules
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
pinch white pepper
1 bunch fresh parsley, finely minced

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Make the sea cakes. Mash the beans in a large bowl with the back of a fork.Stir in seaweed, onion, and salt and pepper. Form the beans into four patties, dip in the cornflour mix, and coat in breadcrumbs.Bake on a silicone mat on a baking tray for 20 minutes, turning once.
3. Meanwhile, make the parsley sauce. Mix 1/4 of the soya milk with the cornflour. Set aside. Place the remaining soya milk into a saucepan and heat gently. Whisk in the onion granules, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and parsley. When the milk comes to a simmer, add the cornflour mix and stir continuously to thicken.
4. Serve the sea cakes with the parsley sauce, steamed greens, and mashed, boiled, or steamed potatoes.

Mexican Beans and Rice

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Ideal for packed lunches, this is a budget recipe that cooks up relatively quickly and serves 4.

Ingredients

250g rice, uncooked (produces 500g cooked rice)
2 x 400g cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 carrots, finely diced
100g frozen peas
100g frozen sweetcorn
80g cabbage (we used the tough outer leaves of our sweetheart cabbage), finely shredded
5 cherry tomatoes, quartered
150g salsa
1/2 cup vegetable broth or water
1 tsp garlic powder

Directions

1. Cook the rice according to the packet directions.
2. Meanwhile, steam or boil the carrots, cabbage, frozen peas, and sweetcorn, until done to your liking. We added the kidney beans too, because sometimes those in tins can be slightly undercooked.
3. Add the cooked vegetables, beans, and cherry tomatoes to a large frying pan or saucepan with the water/broth, salsa, and garlic powder. Cook until the sauce is reduced and slightly thickened (about 5 minutes).
4. Serve the rice with the bean and vegetable mix.

Tomato, Butterbean, and Kale Soup

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This thick and rich soup is full of interesting textures from the kale and the beans. It serves 4.

Ingredients
1 large onion, medium dice
5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 cup suitable-for-vegans vegetable broth, stock, or water
500 ml tomato juice
2 x 400g tins tomatoes
2 tsp suitable-for-vegans sugar
1 tbsp Italian herbs
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3 cups kale, tightly packed
1 can butterbeans, drained and rinsed

Directions

1. Heat a large stainless steel soup pot over a medium-low heat. Add the onions and dry sauté, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes until nicely caramelised. Add the garlic and sauté for a further 30 seconds.
2. Deglaze the pan with the broth or water.
3. Add everything else but the kale and butterbeans, bring to a boil, and turn off the heat.
4. Blend the soup until smooth.
5. Add the kale and beans, bring to the boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Season with cracked black pepper, sea salt, and some chopped basil or parsley.

Loaded Minestrone

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A real treat for those who love their vegetables, this soup is packed with all kinds of delicious textures and flavours. If you can’t find the packaged quick-cook minestrone mix, feel free to add your own mix of whole grains, pasta, and split peas or lentils, or just small pasta shapes, adjusting the cooking time accordingly. Serves 8.

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 carrots, medium dice
250g green beans, chopped
250g mushrooms, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
500g passata
400g can chopped tomatoes
400g can cannellini beans, or any beans of choice
250g quick-cook minestrone mix
1.5 l vegetable stock
1tsp each dried oregano, dried basil, dried thyme, dried parsley
Fresh parsley to serve (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Large handful of spinach per serving

Method

1. In a large, preheated soup pot over a medium-low heat, add the onion, celery and carrots, and sauté 3 minutes, adding a little water if the vegetables start to stick. Add the mushrooms and green beans, and sauté for 3 minutes more. Add the garlic for another 30 seconds.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients apart from the salt and pepper, fresh parsley, and spinach. Bring to the boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. To serve, place a large handful of spinach into the bottom of each bowl and top with the soup. Garnish with fresh parsley, lots of freshly ground black pepper, and a bit of salt if required.

Pizza Tots

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This is a fun way to serve potatoes and is a perfect recipe for serving vegetables and beans to children who may be reluctant to eat them otherwise. The recipe makes 20 tots

Ingredients

1 x 400g can cannellini beans
1 cup fresh basil
1 large clove garlic, minced
4 medium potatoes, baked and cooled
1/3 cup olives, finely chopped
1/4 cup slow-roasted or sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup nuts of choice, finely ground (if allergic to nuts, use ground oats instead)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220C, and line a baking tray with a silicon sheet or parchment paper.
2. In a food processor, pulse the cannellini beans and basil until smooth.
3. Halve the potatoes, and scoop the flesh from the skins. Mash the flesh with a fork and add to the basil and bean mixture with the rest of the ingredients.
4. Taking a heaped tablespoon of the mixture, press it firmly between your hands to bind it, and form it into tater tot shapes. Place on the silicon sheet or parchment paper. Repeat until all the mixture is used up.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, turn the tots, and bake for 10 minutes more.
6. Serve with some tomato sauce or suitable-for-vegan yellow mustard.